A roll of paper towels loosely situated on a countertop together with other items might be difficult to find and inconvenient to use, e.g., requiring two hands to remove a towel from the roll. A variety of designs of paper towel holders and dispensers have therefore become popular items in households and commercial locations. These designs range from minimalist structures to elaborate devices with sophisticated lock and release mechanisms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,639 discloses a design for a paper towel holder that is relatively simple, yet functional and versatile. Its loop allows a user to fasten it temporarily to many types of fixtures, an improvement over several prior art devices that need to be fastened permanently to a surface. Its loop also allows the user to select the height of the towels, a feature that can keep the towels both accessible and out of the way. Its small size is an improvement over prior art devices that are bulky, especially where space is limited. Dual stop elements are an improvement because they allow the user to attach and remove the roll quickly and are simple to manufacture, while providing a novel means for holding the roll when it is in use. The holder is durable and lacks stress points that might otherwise be susceptible to early failure.
It is still desirable for a paper towel holder to be even simpler to use, e.g., by being easier for the user to attach and remove the roll of paper towels, to tear away a sheet of paper towels, and to fasten the paper towel holder to a fixture.